Return of the Chrono Scepter
by FlowerofAdversity
Summary: Taking place not long after Alpha's Return to Dreamland, it seems that Rita and Zedd are up to their old nefarious plots once again. This time she has reeled him in to a partnership via a phony marriage only to usurp his power and ability for herself and rule in his stead.
1. Chapter 1

Return of the Chrono Scepter

Synopsis: Taking not long after Alpha's Return to Dreamland, we revisit yet another wedding. This one is between Rita and Zedd. There is really no love between the two and even though the two aren't tied by marital bonds they work together for their own behest and nefarious evil schemes. To get the Rangers out of the way and send them a shock, Alpha 5 is captured and reprogrammed, implanted with false memories of the Rangers hating him. Thanks to this reprogramming, Alpha 5 is consumed with hate for his former friends and vows to offer their corpses as wedding gifts to his new Emperor and Empress.

Chapter 1—All A Ploy

Rita had plotted her latest sinister scheme to perfection so much that she had strung Zedd in along so easily that it was almost too good to be true. She nearly wanted to pinch herself and celebrate, but it was too early for that. Their union would be the perfect opportunity to kidnap Alpha 5 and brainwash him into doing their bidding. They had tried once before and failed miserably, but Rita was certain this time would be a tremendous success.

It be the ultimate wedding of darkness, and the Rangers wouldn't be invited. They would be receiving a remnant of one of Rita and Zedd's gifts, though. Once Alpha was taken from Edenoi by Rita's legions, the true preparations could begin.

In the dark of the night, Rita's Putties blended in tremendously with the castle décor. Without being noticed, they inconspicuously whisked the royal robot away, while he was still asleep and escorted him to the Moon Base where Rita placed a slave crown on his head. Alpha 5 had no clue what was happening and had no idea what was about to take place next, but Rita knew that her patience and dedication to this meticulously wrought ploy would be well worth it when all was said and done.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2—A Nightmare Become Real

Somni had never experienced insomnia but she didn't care much for its draining effects on her body. She had had a nightmare concerning Alpha 5 but no one took her vision seriously.

'Go back to sleep, Somni.', Beta said, plugging into his recuperation bay. Somni slunk out of his room and entered her recuperation chamber, shrugging off the nightmare as nothing more than a bad dream. Little did she know her nightmare had been a premonition of ill tidings to come.

Meanwhile on the moon the phony wedding commenced without any hitch and Alpha was completely under the sway of the slave crown. His only desire was to deliver the Rangers' corpses to his Mistress by the end of the night.

Back on Edenoi, Delta 4 had noticed her husband had gone missing. It wasn't like him not to be curled up in her embrace, or she in his. She contacted her AI, Mariah.

'They bypassed my security codes ! I don't know how they did it, Majesty. Please, forgive me…', Mariah apologized.

'Nothing to forgive. Even machines such as we have our flaws. They must've had a scrambler to slip by unawares. We need to act, fast. I have to take my hypership to Earth. The Rangers are going to be in danger, I feel it.', Delta 4 said. Mariah caused the hypership to be lifted from its underground storage into the adjoining hangar. In a manner of seconds, Delta 4 was hurtling toward Earth, hopefully long before Alpha 5 had come to carry out Rita's twisted plan. They must've had a scrambler to slip by unawares. We need to act, fast. I have to take my hypership to Earth. The Rangers are going to be in danger, I feel it.', Delta 4 said. Mariah caused the hypership to be lifted from its underground storage into the adjoining hangar. In a manner of seconds, Delta 4 was hurtling toward Earth, hopefully long before Alpha 5 had come to carry out Rita's twisted plan.

Alpha's slave crown was carved from the malefic Dark Crystal, a gem of unspeakable power. It was beautifully crafted, with the symbol of Rita's family etched into the center. It was filled with Dark Power, the energy source of the United Alliance of Evil. Since he was an ally to the Rangers, walking through HQ had been easier than pie. He nearly cackled to himself at how simplistic everything had been so far. That is, until Delta 4 had made a mad dash to track him down.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3—I Don't Want to Harm You, But…

It was an extremely tenuous reunion between the bots.

'You won't interfere with my plans !', Alpha 5 seethed in hushed tones.

'I won't let you get away with them. I don't want to harm you but I know you're not yourself, Alpha.', Delta 4 said.

'Remove yourself, immediately !', Alpha said, trying to pass his friend in the corridors of HQ. Their shouting had been so loud that it awoke Beta 1 and Somnibot.

'What's going on ?', Beta questioned.

'It's as I feared. Alpha 5 is bent on murdering the Rangers. He's under the influence of a slave crown.', Somni said, pointing to the shining corona fixed to Alpha's forehead.

'We can't spar here. It's too dangerous. The equipment might get damaged.', Beta stated, matter of factly. It was providential that Delta had come prepared with a weapon all her own that she had been creating for herself. It hadn't been battle tested, but she was about to see just how powerful its abilities were.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4—Power of the Chrono Scepter

Meanwhile, Zedd had unearthed a powerful weapon of his own, the Chrono Scepter. It was a wand that gave its wielder the power to control the flow of time as they see fit. With it, he could finally be rid of the Rangers. Rita, meanwhile, was giddy; her plan of taking Alpha 5 under her wing was coming together exquisitely.

With a final blow of the hammer upon the untampered steel of the Scepter, the fearsome weapon was wrought and Zedd began his ancient chant. It would turn back the clock all the way _before_ the Rangers ever found their morphers. He would locate the transformers and crush them all to dust. That way this particular timeline would be obliterated and he could live out the rest of his days in wedded bliss (or what he believed to be wedded bliss) with his hideous bride, Rita. What he wasn't aware of was Delta 4 already had an ace up her sleeve. She too had an Interdimensional Blade that could cut the very fabric of space and time itself. It was called _Swift_ and it also acted as a cutlass for sparring. Currently she was using it in cutting the slave crown from Alpha 5's forehead. She had to be cautious though. Too deep a cut and the circuitry in his motherboard would have to be rewired, and that would take a significant amount of time. All the while, Beta 1 joined the fight with _Fiercefire_ in the hopes to free his friend from the grip of the slave crown.

Somni had sped herself into the heat of battle and saw that Delta was already well into removing the crown from Alpha's brow. She received some incredible assists from Beta, who back flipped and side-swiped Alpha's rapid-fire kicks and thousand hit fists. It looked like something out of a futuristic Bruce Lee film.

Just then, Somni began her incantation but everything began to slow down.

'Not the prophecy, I can't allow it to…', Delta said, tapping her Lapis Lazuli beacon. It was the only escape in case a disturbance in space time had been made. The very fabric of the universe was starting to unravel and she was transported _back in time_ with the beacon. She had a method of return, the beacon itself, but she wondered how much time the beacon bought her back in the present. She had no time to worry or fret about it now. Zedd had to be found and quickly. She had to disguise herself and make herself as inconspicuous as possible. The nearest costume store would be the perfect place to do such a thing.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5—Back to the Beginning

Zedd had used a spell to blend in with the humans, in as much as he loathed their stinking hides.

'It won't be for much longer. Pretty soon the morphers will be in my grasp and ground into powder. What I have desired for ages will soon be mine for the taking !', Zedd thought to himself, greedily rubbing his meaty claws together.

There was intense magical energy in the nearby field and Zedd could sense _all_ of the morphers in one place. However, there was a stout, but well-built hooded man in a spectacular silver lame cloak who had come to the wide, verdant glen, too. When the wizard lowered his hood, Zedd knew who the alchemist was immediately. It was Zordon in corporeal form. He was far more intimidating contained in stasis, but there was something imposing about him as a mage also. He extended his arms, able to sense the electricity from each of the morphers in the premises.

'Not today, my old adversary. I didn't come here just to lose the only chance I have to grind the Rangers into dust, literally.', Zedd vowed, odiously.

There was a _snap_ of power, sparks of electricity and a fizzling when Delta had made her unconventional landing. No one seemed to notice, since they were all occupied with their own diversions. 'Zedd, stop this immediately !', Delta shouted. 'Says who, you?!', he responded, angered at Delta's interference. At that point, everything was already being set in motion. Zordon had retrieved all the morphers and vanished in a single blinding point of light. Zedd raged.

'I only have enough power to turn the clock back so far. Repeat incantations aren't possible ! Curse you, Delta 4 !', Zedd said, charging headlong at her. Delta had already calculated his moves and knew his fighting style well. She weakened him enough to send him running back home through a remainder of a schism left by the Chrono Scepter, and she returned to Angel Grove via her beacon. She knew, however, that the fight was long from over, because she'd be trailing the timeline right on Zedd's heels, knowing that there was another sinister plot roiling through his sardonic mind at that very moment.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6—Not So Simple

Beta and Somni continued their battle against Alpha 5. They had successfully removed the slave crown from his brow, but he was still under the influence of Rita's will. Delta threw Zedd off his pathway and hurtled him back to the moon where he belonged.

'Maybe that will divert your scheme for at least a while !', she said, hurtling forward. She recalled another small detail of the prophecy in her nightmare. There was a Strobe that Rita wielded which held Alpha 5's will captive. Only destroying the Strobe would render the evil spell inert. Her beacon only had enough power to send her back to Earth and assist the bots.

The Rangers had come onto the scene, completely addled by what they saw. They didn't ask many questions, especially since Alpha 5 was doing his utmost to make certain they would all be wounded fatally in order to appease his beloved Rita. The battle was about to become a whole lot more brutal.

The field was worse than a warzone and many of the Rangers were terribly wounded, not having their morphers on hand. Despite that, they still fought valiantly. Alpha 5, however, decidedly had the upper hand. It seemed all was lost until a loud scream was heard from what seemed to be the other side of the galaxy. Everything seemed to stop and there was a jolt, or ripple through the very fabric of the Universe itself.

'What's going on ?', the Rangers said, suddenly endowed with their uniforms.

'Seems that Zordon's come through, just when we felt we were doomed.', Delta said, barely able to keep herself on her feet. She had no idea how Zordon was able to manipulate space and time as he had, rearranging _events_ to his will. When all of this was over, he had a lot of explaining to do.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7—Sacrifice for the Better Good

The morphers were back in the hands of the Rangers and Zordon was in his cylindrical form, hale and hearty, and actually looking younger than ever. They were all a bit banged up but none had suffered any injury that was too terribly painful. All of them were enervated from the long battle.

'You have to explain this to us. How is it did you preempt both Rita _and_ Zedd with your power ? You had to know something in advance !', Billy said, completely blown away by Zordon's powers of precognition. It was true that Zordon possessed psychic ability, but that was only part of it. 'I will explain everything later. But for now, let's all restore Alpha 5 to normal.', Zordon said. Everyone gathered their Morphin Energy and blasted it at Alpha 5. A memory began to flash in his electronic mind.

Alpha was crying. He had fell on the basketball court in Angel Grove Park and thought he damaged himself badly. 'Alpha, you've cried enough.', Kimberly said. 'Why are you always so mean to me ? Tommy, please, help me up !', the young robot said. 'Try to get up yourself first.', Tommy responded.

'You remember why we didn't help you up right away ?', Kim asked. 'This is because you weren't badly damaged and could easily stand up yourself. You also didn't listen to my warning too.', Kim explained. Alpha 5 soon began to calm down and felt serenity rush through his circuits.

'You weren't yourself.', Kat chimed in.

'All because of this and the Strobe of Dark Power.', Delta 4 added. Zordon explained that in the sequences of time between inter-lapping intervals of chronal disturbance, he had rescued the morphers, _bilocated_ himself to the moon, broke the Strobe of Power, integrated within himself and used the last of his power to give Zedd an extra push back to the moon. He was certain he could hear the two so-called lovebirds bickering now. All their plans had been foiled, once again. All of this had left Zordon rather sapped. The only way he could maintain himself would be to contain his essense within a cylinder. It would render him trapped to the cylinder forever, but he had already seen thousands of lifetimes come and go. He had been biding his time, waiting for the perfect vessels to train, mentor and guide to keep the world safe from evil. What better warriors than these teenagers with attitudes ?

'I had to do what I did to save all of you and maintain a good timeline for the Universe. Everything's connected, you see.', Zordon explained. It was all too much for the Rangers and the bots to fathom. Even Billy's advanced brain hurt a bit trying to mull about all the algorithms this incredible math-magician had made just to ensure the future was to remain in the Ranger's favors. They all thanked Zordon profusely.

'What about Rita and Zedd though ?', Somni replied.

'We don't need to worry about those two, but we do need to send the bots to the Moonbase soon to retrieve the Chrono Scepter and destroy it. It has no use now due to Zedd being drained of negative energy, but he'll recharge himself soon enough.', Zordon said. Seeing how all the Rangers were too pooped to pop, Somni didn't even have to sing a lullaby. Before long, everyone was in their quarters, fast asleep, dreaming of what adventures lay ahead for them.


	8. Epilogue (and TBC)

Epilogue 

Delta 4 knew that she would have to return to the Moonbase, but she realized she would have to stay on earth while Alpha recuperated. Edenoi would have to find other rulers to maintain the democracy while she was gone but she had already set another monarch on her throne to reign while she was away (and for how long not even Delta was aware). As she and Alpha went to their recuperation chambers, they said goodnight to Somnibot and Beta.

'You two were marvelous on the battlefield. Zordon has taught you both well.', Delta said.

'It's good to have allies such as you !', Beta retorted, saluting to them both. When they left, Beta thanked Somnibot for saving him during the heat of battle.

'I couldn't have done it without you.', Beta confessed. He had suddenly taken Somni into his embrace and noticed that their audio receptors weren't far away one from the other. Somni hoisted up her courage and kissed Beta, long, and deep.

'A hero's reward.', she said with a bit of a girlish titter before traipsing off to her quarters. Beta never felt so much elation in his young life. Like the others, he slept well that night and was filled with satisfaction of another day's work well done. As for the Rangers, they were restored with deep delta sleep, looking forward to another school year in the following weeks after summer vacation.

However, in time Delta chose to stay in the HQ with her beloved Alpha 5; she needed her true love by his side. One day, though, they would return to Edenoi for real to lay claim to the throne.

Lord Zedd's dark energy, meanwhile, continued to be drained into Rita's own Magic Wand. When the process was complete, he would be powerless and Rita could finally finish him.

One night, Rita approached Alpha 5, her former beloved servant, in a dream.

'I miss you, Alpha.', she said. Then she had a terribly awful idea. Since the Strobe was now usurping all of his dark energy, she could create a teleportation rod and develop a more intrusive slave crown to subdue his will-power to her own. It would take time but she would have her prize where he truly belonged; by her side.

'I miss you too Empress.', Alpha 5 began to say in his sleep as he stirred ever so slightly.

To Be Continued…


End file.
